The Transfer Tavern

Manchester City fans in the Transfer Tavern have started looking at other midfield options that their club could sign, after the news that the club couldn’t come to an agreement with Fred. The Daily Mailhas broken the story that the Shakhtar Donetsk man is now unlikely to join City, whilst also claiming that Pep is still in the market for a midfielder.

Manchester City are ready to pull the plug on a deal for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred with a move now unlikely. [@Jack_Gaughan]

Losing out on Fred, who’s been valued at £17.1m by the good people over at Transfermarkt, is no doubt a blow for Manchester City fans, the Brazilian has shown his importance to Shakhtar this season, playing in every minute of European football for the Ukranian club. However, Shakhtar were knocked out of the Champions League last night on away goals in Rome, after falling to a 1-0 loss at the Stadio Olimpico. The report surrounding Fred also stated that Guardiola almost signed the 25-year-old in January, although he would’ve been cup-tied in European competition.

The Citizens propping up our bar have now started looking at other options, with one man jumping to the front of fans’ minds. Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Wiegl. City fans believe that the German is a better fit for their current side under Guardiola than Fred would’ve been and some are glad that it could be the German on his way to Manchester instead of Fred.

With that in mind, here’s what our resident Sky Blues’ make of the news:

No Fred is okay but both Weigl and Jorginho are midfielders who pass very well but lack bit of energy to run all over the pitch to protect the defense, which we need very much especially in big games where we might not be able to dominate. Hopefully there are some other targets.